New Hires: How to Smooth Out Your Onboarding Process

One of the most important tasks a business owner must grapple with is bringing new hires on board quickly and correctly. You want your employees to be effective and ready to do the tasks at hand, but this process can take a while. Luckily, there are numerous strategies you can use to smooth out your onboarding process. Here are four of them to try in your work today.

Develop A Documented Plan

One great way to expedite and optimize the onboarding process is by developing a documented plan. This written plan should hash out exactly what information you want to cover during orientation, what paperwork needs to get done, which need to be signed, and how training should be handled. Note that you can always modify the document as you learn which aspects of your game plan are effective and ineffective.

Train Your Trainers

In addition to developing a documented plan, make sure you carefully train the individuals who will be acclimating your new hires to the company. Letting just anyone take on the role of trainer can be a recipe for disaster if the individual is not thoroughly familiar with both your company and the unique paradigm you want new hires to adopt as they come aboard. By thoroughly training your hires the same way, you can be confident they are introducing the company correctly.

Don’t Go Too Fast

While it’s always wonderful to have fast learners onboard, it’s important to remember everyone learns and grows at a different pace. Keep in mind, you may have very talented people on board who learn best when they can process information slowly and take baby steps to ensure they’re doing everything correctly, others might be able to zip through a few steps. In recognizing these realities, make sure you don’t go too quickly through orientation and the other onboarding processes designed to make new hires familiar with the company. Introduce concepts one at a time, and give new employees frequent breaks and breathing room. In short, think of the onboarding process as a marathon rather than a sprint!

Focus on Health and Safety

The last thing you want to transpire during orientation is a work-related accident. Accidents take time to clear up and they can cause a new hire to develop a negative attitude toward the company. Moreover, you want your new hires to understand your company values the health and safety of its employees. As such, make sure you’ve already implemented all the systems and strategies necessary to make the commercial environment as safe and secure as possible. Also note, you should know which attorney you’ll use for any work-related accidents that transpire. Knowing which reputable legal representative to call if something happens can save you time and money if something does happen during training.

If you’ve just brought several new hires on board and want to ensure they’re trained properly, know that you can realize that goal. To ensure your onboarding process is as smooth and simple as possible, be sure to implement the strategies outlined for you above.